


Rewind

by ConcentratedMatter



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-26 20:19:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16688278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConcentratedMatter/pseuds/ConcentratedMatter
Summary: Caleb finds the spell he is looking for and makes a choice.





	Rewind

**Author's Note:**

> Slightly different than normal, I hope people can follow the stream of consciousness.

There’s a moment of silence before reality breaks. A deep inhale before the plunge, and then cold water washes away his mistakes.

 

Like a shattered mirror, a million shining pieces of possibility reach out to him. A life divided by choices and chances. A thousand faults. A thousand tears. A thousand eyes reflected among the slivers of time, yellow and green.

 

He catches a concerned look.

 

A frown.

 

A smile.

 

He closes his eyes, reaches for home and lands among the stars. The grass is in his hair.

 

“Caleb?”

 

“Yes?” He murmurs, sleep sinking from his mind like a wave receding from the sand. The night sky is vibrant and alive, galaxies looking down on them both. She shifts beside him, yellow eyes reflecting the small campfire. She can probably see all the way to the center of the universe, he realizes. He closes his eyes and breathes. The earth smells of rain.

 

“Do you know all their names?” She asks.

 

“Not all of them, but I do know the important ones.”

 

She points towards a radiant point of light near the horizon, and when he looks at her, her eyes are deep pools filled with starlight.

 

“What about that one?”

 

“That’s... actually a planet.”

 

She looks back at him, and her face morphs from confusion into a bold grin. “No... _we’re_ on a planet!”

 

Her laugh echoes like skipping stones across the dark water. The creak of the mast. They’re on the open sea and the waves are rolling. They both softly sway with the ship, like a synchronised dance.

 

He smiles. “No really, it’s another world!”

 

“Nah, we’re on a world.” She says, a determined look on her face. Her eyes are smiling, and his heart fills with fondness.

 

Her face wavers and fades, a moment forgotten amongst time that never progressed.

 

He looks out over the bow of the ship and sees an ocean of alternatives stretch before him. He closes his eyes and breathes. The sea smells of decay.

 

He reaches out and searches for home, and the sway of the deck pulls him into a dance.

 

His hands are full of her, and his feet seem to move on their own. She is guiding him as much as he is guiding her. Her smile is glowing and a little cheeky. Her green eyes sparkle with delight.

 

“I think you might be drunk, Caleb.”

 

“I’m allowed to celebrate.” He says, his heart full of hope. “To celebrate us.”

 

She leans into him. “Do you think our parents will give us their blessing?”

 

“Who cares.” He says, and closes his eyes. “We make our own future.”

 

He nuzzles her hair. She smells of charcoal. And pastries.

 

“You were always a better dancer than me...” He murmurs into her soft, blue locks.  

 

He can see the surprise in her face, and he feels suddenly apologetic, his mind swimming with moments long forgotten.

 

“Oh well, you know Caleb, you’ve been a good dancer too.” She says conflicted, and he lets her go.

 

The connection between realities wavers and breaks as her strong, blue hands try to guide him up the stairs. Wooden steps stretch out and multiply before him, a million different paths to follow. Her hands dissolve, lost amongst the waves of time.

 

He closes his eyes. He hesitates and thinks of home, and steps out into an inferno.

 

Heat beats against his cheeks, the wind whipping up his cloak as he stares at the cart. The burning house. Fear rises inside of him like a tide surge after a devastating storm, one of his own creation.

 

He steps forward and feels a firm hand on his shoulder.

 

“Stay, Caleb.”

 

The moment stretches endlessly across all realities as life is rewound and rewritten. He pauses, gathering up the will to break free from this infinite point in time.

 

He bends reality to his own.

 

When he starts running, embers fall across his vision, and a whisper follows him from behind; _No._

 

He reaches for the entrance to his home, his hand upon the wooden frame when he hears the screaming start. He knows he can still fix it. He can remake everything.

 

He flings open the door.

 

The screaming changes, an unexpected shift in pitch. A different, but familiar shriek reaching for him from another place. Another time. The sound wounds his heart, and he breaks into a million pieces. They float among the embers, and he sees a thousand yellow eyes staring back at him. A fire rages behind each one of them.

 

There is no hesitation.

 

He closes his eyes and reaches for her instead.

 

He stumbles against rusty, metal bars. Heat beats against his face and the shrieking fills his ears. Flames lick against the rough hewn rock of the cell wall, and she is pressed into a corner, but her terrified yellow eyes no longer search for him. The guards are running past, the inferno inside is beyond their control. As they leave her behind, she cowers down and hugs her knees, folding into a small, green ball.

 

She’s tiny, but the fire reaches for her just as frantically as he had done.

 

Clinging to the metal bars, he can feel the skin on his fingers blistering, but there is no hope. He falls to his knees as black smoke blankets everything.

 

“You set the fire without me...” He whispers, his voice lost amongst the violence of the flames. He knows a choice has already been made.

 

But he still closes his eyes, and reaches for time.

 

There’s a moment of silence before reality breaks. A deep inhale before the plunge, and then cold water washes away his mistakes.

 

\---

 

“Caleb?”

 

Sunlight filters into his eyes and he blinks, reality weaving itself back together. He breathes and lets go of the spellbook. It clatters to the ground, breaking his silence.

 

She is there. She is staring at him, nervous yellow eyes searching his face for a reaction.

 

“Did it work?” She asks, unsure.

 

His heart fills with overwhelming gratitude and he kneels down in front of her. He reaches out and envelops her in a powerful embrace. He closes his eyes.

 

Her hair smells of gunpowder and alcohol.

 

“Yes.” He smiles. “It worked.”


End file.
